ACTAVIS TO PAY $118.6 MILLION TO END DRUG PRICING WHISTLEBLOWER CLAIM

In a settlement filed on Dec 29 in the Federal District Court in Boston, Actavis has agreed to pay the government over $118 million for falsely reporting inflated prices of drugs and falsely collecting higher reimbursement rates from Medicare. The whistleblower in this case was a group of individuals who own and manage a company called Ven-A-Care of the Florida Keys, a specialty pharmacy which prosecuted the claims civilly. Ven-A-Care has settled more than 20 lawsuits since 2000 which allowed the state and federal governments to collect about $3 billion. Ven-A-Care collected about $400 million in whistleblower fees suring that period. The case in Boston is In re Pharmaceutical Average Wholesale Pricing Litigation MDL No 1456 U.S. District Court of Massachusetts.